That's interesting because I actually believe that Lincoln is staking out a very clear position even if that position may take the nation in very different directions. He remains consistent in emphasizing the importance of preserving the Union. Nothing matters beyond that, including a possible end to slavery, if the Union is dissolved. As I mentioned before, slaves are already being freed and its expansion had been limited owing to Congressional action. I see Lincoln as acknowledging the importance of slavery to the Confederate war effort and moving to undercut that resource. Lincoln is also, no doubt, addressing the Border States and their unwillingness to seriously consider compensated emancipation.

This has been a very interesting thread. Thanks

I'll not continue to argue this point. I'm not conceding, I just choose to disagree with you, at least at this time.

That's interesting because I actually believe that Lincoln is staking out a very clear position even if that position may take the nation in very different directions. He remains consistent in emphasizing the importance of preserving the Union. Nothing matters beyond that, including a possible end to slavery, if the Union is dissolved. As I mentioned before, slaves are already being freed and its expansion had been limited owing to Congressional action. I see Lincoln as acknowledging the importance of slavery to the Confederate war effort and moving to undercut that resource. Lincoln is also, no doubt, addressing the Border States and their unwillingness to seriously consider compensated emancipation.

This has been a very interesting thread. Thanks

I'll not continue to argue this point. I'm not conceding, I just choose to disagree with you, at least at this time.

If Lincoln's letter to Greeley was not part of an “effort to shape public opinion on Lincoln's part in August of 1862 ” what on earth was it?

I argue that those who read Lincoln's statement as being indifferent on slavery are incorrect, but I also believe those who see it as an overt effort to shape public opinion on Lincoln's part in August of 1862 are reading more into it than is really there. Congress was already acting and, while Lincoln wasn't vetoing their actions, he still needed a stronger statement as to his intentions. The response to Greeley wasn't that response. The EP was and it needed the success of Antietam and a quiet winter. To some degree, my interpretation of Lincoln's intention with the Greeley letter, as a whole, was to get the old goat to let him to the job he was elected to do — save the Union and, if possible, eliminate slavery.

Basically, the “I would save the Union…” quote was the politically safe thing for Lincoln to say. That is what made Lincoln a great politician — knowing what to say when. That might be interpreted by some to mean he was “shaping public opinion” or “preparing a policy context for the issuing of the preliminary EP,” however, Lincoln would have issued the EP absent the Greeley letter, provided he got the wins in the field to prevent the look of desparation. The aspect of timing the EP has more to do with shaping public opinion than Lincoln's response to Greeley.

The letter to Greeley was not private communication between correspondents. Lincoln wrote it carefully to be read by the public. Indeed, such statements were part and parcel of American political culture of the day.

Vacillating politician? Talking out both sides of his mouth? Perhaps. Or perhaps better termed as a skilled statesmen /consummate politician who responded to the rapidly changing conditions created by a war of unexpected scale and astonishing consequences.

And wasn't emancipation a true military necessity? Lincoln had decided it was, but only after field officers had already made similar conclusions.

What I fail to understand is how either the position that Lincoln was indifferent to slavery or that he was shaping public opinion can be taken from the Greeley letter. While Greeley did publish the letter, he was under no legal obligation to do so. Perhaps, Lincoln was gambling on Greeley's journalistic ethics and that he would publish it, but that was no guarantee. I believe two factors influenced Greeley's decision to do so: his ethics and his respect for the office of the President. That it was a public relations boost for Lincoln was more a shot in the dark than an intended consequence. That being the case, Lincoln, as my dad says, “fell into 'spit' and came out smelling like a rose.” That happens to politicians more than we realize until we review the series of events.

In my opinion, when one looks at that specific quote alone, Lincoln was doing the “consummate politician” thing and talking out of both sides of his mouth.

I pretty much agree with what you've stated here. Lincoln was a fairly conservative politician who was trying to maintain a united front at a time when the war was going downhill for the United States. Seems to me that Lincoln would have been content for the Confederacy to lay down its harms if only to stop the bloodshed. From that perspective slavery comes in a far second.

Marc

I also think we are close on this particular issue. Please understand, however, that I am not thinking of this as a counterfactual, but what was very much a possibility at the time. Yes, with hindsight we could play around with what-ifs, but I am acknowledging the contingency that hung over events at the time in question. Did Lincoln think that reunion before 1863 was as likely as “celestial collision”? Well, I don't know, but Lincoln also misjudged the South early on during the secession winter.

I also agree with you that Lincoln did not retreat once the EP was issued, but I was never suggesting that he did or even that he might have. There doesn't seem to be any doubt that Lincoln was committed to emancipation after 1863 and even the possibility of limited black civil rights by the end of his life.

Finally, thanks for the kind words re: the blog. Always nice to hear that people of various stripes are enjoying it.